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Originally Posted by Galadriel
SPOILERS AHEAD.
His wisecracks were the reason I did not like him at first. However, after reading a little more closely, I found he was terribly intriguing. He could possibly be called a romantic. Look at the way he keeps remembering his wife (I forget her name). He even feels for the girls working at brothels. But he knows that no one is going to take him seriously - less so if he acts all kind and encouraging. So he shrugs off emotions (or tries to) and acts tough. To put it bluntly, he knows how to play the game of thrones, even if he doesn't want to.
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For me, it's how he is in
A Dance With Dragons that forms the point at which I start to find him a bit irritating again. He's truly been through the mill at that point, and even here he doesn't stop with the clever lines. Though to be fair, I think that's why a lot of fans adore him, for his sharp tongue, and that might be why Martin chose to keep him that way. I agree he's a bit of a romantic, and that's probably his most interesting characteristic - he maintains an illusion that the women in the brothels love him for himself and not the money he has.
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Originally Posted by Galadriel 55
I agree. Although I loved him for all his honourable traits, he deserved what he got. (do I hear some muttering? ) At Winterfell, where he and his justice ruled, he did fine - and got proper respect for that. But down south money is worth more than all his goodness and justice and etc. He couldn't get used to such a way of life, and wasn't fit for the game of thrones. But what really made him grey instead of white in my eyes was how he didn't stick to his honour till the end. Fine - if you value virtues above your life and the lives of those around you, so be it, don't listen to that fat ugly man telling you that you should turn around and lie to yourself and to others saying that you lied before to save your skin! And if you value truth so much, don't let it die with you! He belongs in the north, and that's that.
However, despite this, I have to give Ned his due respect for doing what he thought was right. He couldn't help it if what he thought and what others thought did not match, just as he couldn't help asking if honesty was always right.
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Interestingly, I viewed Ned as being painted as fairly 'white' all the way through A Game of Thrones, as a man who would stand by his honour no matter what. That's why he agrees to go and serve the King even if it's not what is in the best interests of him, his family and his people.
In the end, he did a bad thing like so many other characters. In going off to be The Hand, he broke his family apart and left his small children to the mercies of fate. I'm sure I'm not the only one who sits and thinks "If only..." Of course, half the story wouldn't exist if he hadn't gone, but it was his pride in his honour that led to his children suffering.
What fascinates me is how there's a
really slow revelation about certain things which happened in the past, in the youth of Ned, Robert, Jaime and Rhaegar. I get the feeling that I'm going to learn at some point (once he gets the story firing up again...) exactly why Ned was so wedded to 'honour'.
I think the worst of all the characters for me has to be Gregor Clegane - a truly
horrible man. Though some others run him close though I don't know how far you are with the books so I won't do spoilers
